Yea? Well I have and its a crazy story. This is my first ever reddit post just because I want to share it.

I was a Bachelors student majoring in physics in an American university. I went twice to these conferences known as CUWiP (conference for undergraduate women in physics), although thats a misnomer because men are welcomed and encouraged to apply. Each time I was very well received BECAUSE I was a guy. Girls would come up to me, giggling, and awkwardly ask me “if you’re a guy, why are you here?” and I would answer “I think women face a lot of struggles in the STEM fields, but if we’re going to discuss those issues then both genders need to be present.” The girls always liked that answer, then I would just follow up with “I’m also looking for a girlfriend,” we would laugh and become friends and it was great. Other girls skipped asking entirely just to thank me for actually being there. One of the organizers even spoke to me and said she accepted every single male who applied, but very few ever showed up. But it was a good experience and I learned a lot.

Fast forward a bit of time. I’m sitting on a train in Europe going from one city to another, and I’m talking to three American girls. The topic goes to how they work for some girls’ magazine, and I bring up how I twice attended CUWiP. None of them were in STEM fields, so I start explaining what those are. And they were being super nice before but then they just turned extremely hostile on a fucking dime. They interrupt me to say “WE KNOW WHAT THEY ARE, YOU DON’T HAVE TO BE CONDESCENDING.” Oh okay, sorry, I didn’t know people outside STEM were familiar with them.

So they’re just looking at me like, what the fuck, why did you go to a women’s conference. “Are you transgender?” Said no, BUT GODDAMN IT I SHOULDVE SAID YES TO AVOID THE IMPENDING SHIT STORM. Two of the girls actually STAND OUT OF THEIR SEATS and just start bellowing at me in a crowded public train. Belligerently asking me why I went, I refuse to answer because of how angry they are. So then they just start shouting at me for the next 15 minutes. Choice comments: “You are the reason the world is fucked up.” “You are the worst person in the world.” “You’ve been condescending this entire time, how dare you go. They didn’t need your approval.” I try to profusely apologize for whatever condescension I made, because the Europeans are looking at us and its really uncomfortable. They just keep going. “How dare you talk to me. You think you’re better than me.” They just keep shouting, cursing and threatening, so I just say “If you don’t like me going, then write a letter to [BLANK], the person in charge of the acceptance committee.” They say they will, while continuing to harass me . They don’t stop until we reach the destination, while I just turn away, close my eyes and try to ignore them. I slip away when leaving to avoid an altercation, but I see them giggling to each other as I go.

Interesting people.